Total assets minus total liabilities of an individual or company. For a public company, the excess of assets over liabilities consist of retained earnings, common stock and additional paid-in surplus; here also called owner's equity or shareholders' equity or net assets. For an individual, the excess of assets over liabilities is most likely to come from savings and any additional contributions to income that they have received. Some economists say net worth is not very useful, since financial statements value most assets and liabilities at historical cost, which is usually not a good indicator of true value. also called capital net worth.